The bare bones on a touring relic

A well-known Catholic relic, the arm of St. Francis Xavier, which is said to have baptized 100,000 people, is visiting Saskatoon in January 2018 as part of a cross-Canada tour. Photo supplied to the Saskatoon StarPhoenix by Catholic Christian Outreach. Catholic Christian Outreach / Saskatoon

You know that awkward middle seat in the airplane, where you can never quite figure out what to do with your arms?

Well, what I want to know is, if you happen to end up in the seat next to a nearly five-hundred-year-old forearm, who gets to lay claim to the armrest?

In case you haven’t heard, the right forearm of Saint Francis Xavier will be winging its way from Rome to Regina this month, via a few other stops along the way, as part of a cross-Canada tour. The sacred appendage actually gets its own — hmmm, its or his? — seat on Air Canada flights.

Having had my own experiences with lost bags, I can appreciate why one wouldn’t want to take any chances with baggage handlers and luggage carousels. (Although, surely the hand of God would intervene with the saintly arm to ensure it was kept on the right path, but I digress.)

No really, it gets its own seat. According to Angele Regnier, who spoke to Postmedia, St. Xavier’s forearm travels in style. She is co-founder of the Catholic Christian Outreach, which is among the Catholic groups that asked Rome to lend the hand.

She told the Calgary Herald the forearm, which is in a plexiglass case, is held firmly in place in two plastic, mini-fridge-sized cases that are placed in a foam-lined duffel bag — especially important given the tour began during the bone-chilling weather.

“There are people who travel with artifacts, and the Stanley Cup travels similarly. But, you know, we couldn’t just book tickets on Expedia,” Regnier told the Victoria Times-Colonist.

I know in this so-called modern age, if newspapers are writing about a severed forearm, it’s more likely in relation to some ghoulish Halloween prank or a deranged killer.

But back in the day, the faithful favoured divvying up the remains of saints and others to share them around. And they’re not referred to as the old bag of bones, or Boney M (for Saint Mark), but rather they’re “relics” venerated by people of varying faiths.

So, for example, if you ever have a hankerin’ to stand before Saint Peter before reaching the pearly gates, you’ll find his relics at the Basilica in Rome. Or if you want to look Saint Catherine in the eye, her head is in Siena, Italy. Relics are scattered pretty much all over Europe, but not so much in Canada.

So upon hearing that St. Xavier’s bones were headed this way, I went digging.

Not to be confused with St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, St. Xavier, born in 1506 in what’s now Spain, co-founded the Jesuits, becoming a Catholic missionary and evangelist. He died in 1552 near China and is entombed in India — except for that forearm of course, which ended up in Rome in the 17th century and is ordinarily displayed at the Church of Gesu.

Some critics of the travelling relic have suggested St. Xavier may have a few skeletons in his closet. Harvey Williams, the author of a letter to the Times-Colonist, had a bone to pick with the saint, who had a hand in the Goa Inquisition persecuting non-Christians.

But for the faithful, the saintly relic is known as the hand that baptized 100,000 people. What makes Xavier’s relic unique is that it’s considered “incorrupt,” meaning his body and that forearm hasn’t fully decomposed. So it actually looks like a hand, just a bit more shrivelled — all skin and bones, so to speak.

Even pastor John Sullivan, a member of the Jesuit order and pastor at a Toronto church where the relic visited, admitted to the Toronto Star that when he Googled a photo of it, “I thought, ‘oh my God, it looks like something from the Mummy.’”

No bones about it, the visiting forearm is admittedly kind of creepy. But also sort of weirdly fascinating. And if you’re religious, reportedly awesome — just a feeling some people get, well, down deep in their bones.

Part of a 14-city pilgrimmage, the saint’s forearm touches down in Regina on Jan. 20 at Resurrection Roman Catholic Parish.

High-fives are discouraged. But you’re free to show your appreciation by giving the saint a big hand.

Barb Pacholik is the Leader-Post’s city co-ordinator. Her column appears weekly.

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